New York City songstress Rachel Platten packed Manhattan’s prestigious Highline Ballroom this month, a coup for an independent, unsigned musician who was, until recently, a mainstay on the Lower East Side’s singer-songwriter scene. It is an electrifying and well-deserved new chapter for this much-buzzed-about artist.

Rachel Platten is no stranger to the spotlight. After a life changing experience in Trinidad performing, by fluke, in front of 100,000 screaming fans at the 2003 Trinid…